Bays Along Texas Coastal Bend by Gulf of Mexico – January 25th, 2012

This wide-swath ASAR image shows bays along the Texas Coastal Bend, the flat area of land along the Texas coast. The Coastal Bend includes the barrier islands of Texas and the Laguna Madre (visible in the lower part of the full image). The bays visible here (from northeast to southwest) are: San Antonio Bay, Aransas Bay, Corpus Christi Bay and Baffin Bay.

San Antonio Bay is a bay on the Texas Gulf coast situated between Matagorda and Aransas Bay. It consists mainly of the combined waters of the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers, and is located at the mouth of the Guadalupe River, about 55 miles (89 km) northeast of Corpus Christi and 130 miles (209 km) southeast of San Antonio. It is protected from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Island, leaving only relatively small and distant outlets to the Gulf for little mixing of bay and Gulf waters. The remoteness of the bay has prevented the establishment of major ports.

Aransas Bay is a bay on the Texas gulf coast, approximately 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Corpus Christi, and 173 miles (278 km) south of San Antonio. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by San José Island (also referred to as St. Joseph Island). Aransas Pass is the most direct navigable outlet into the Gulf of Mexico from the bay. The bay is oriented laterally northeast-southwest, and is extended by Redfish Bay to the southwest, Copano Bay to the west, Saint Charles Bay to the north, and Mesquite Bay to the northeast.

Corpus Christi Bay is a scenic semi-tropical bay on the Texas coast found in San Patricio and Nueces counties, next to the major city of Corpus Christi. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Mustang Island, and is fed by the Nueces River and Oso Creek from its western and southern extensions, Nueces Bay and Oso Bay. The bay is located approximately 136 mi south of San Antonio, and 179 mi southwest of Houston.

Baffin Bay is a bay in South Texas, an inlet of the larger Laguna Madre. The Laguna Madre is a long shallow hypersaline bay along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Nueces, Kenedy, Kleberg, Willacy and Cameron counties in Texas, United States. It is separated by the roughly 20-mile (32 km) long Saltillo Flats land bridge into Upper and Lower bays. The two are joined by the Intracoastal Waterway, which has been dredged through the bay. Cumulatively, Laguna Madre is approximately 130 miles (209 km) long, the length of Padre Island. The main extensions include, Baffin Bay in Upper Laguna Madre, Red Fish Bay just below the Saltillo Flats and South Bay (Texas) near the Mexican border.